Chapter 22

8 hours later.

Blaze and Leon sit together, confined to their own room deep within the walls of the fortress they are now locked in. Although their room is modern with a bed, bathroom, fresh fruit, heating and even a TV, there are no windows. Only one front door is in place that is heavily guarded with security cameras outside in the hallway. So far Blaze has located 3 bugged devices within their room but she is still being cautious.

"Leon, there's something I need you to remember…" she quietly says, kneeling down in front of the boy who is sitting on the couch.

"What is it mom?" He whispers back.

"Sooner or later, they'll come knocking and they'll want to take your power. Don't,.." She pauses, taking his hands. "Don't resist or fight back, ok? Just let them take it."

"What? Why?!" He asks, puzzled with concern.

"This isn't the first time they've taken one of us in as their prisoner. I still have distant memories from a long time ago of how bad it was.…. Just don't fight back, ok? Not until I figure a way out of this place".

"What about dad? And Uncle Adam and the others? They're still coming for us aren't they?"

Blaze takes a deep breath, composing herself whilst feeling uncertain as to whether or not they're even still alive.

"I don't know sweetie… but one thing I do know is we're getting out of here one way or another. You'll know when to run ok?"

"What about you and the baby?"

"We'll be ok, just do what they want in the meantime and eventually, they'll let their guard down….. Promise me!" Blaze insists.

"Ok," he nods.

#Door knocks#

The loud banging startles them from their conversation.

"Stay back…" Blaze urges Leon as she approaches the door. Before she has the opportunity to ask who is there or to open it herself, she hears a key card clicking then the handle rotating.

"Go to the bathroom!" She orders, preparing her fighting stance.

"Oh, there's no need for that! You remember me, don't you Blaze?" Dr Dahm stands by the door in dark clothing, accompanied by a second scientist and four more armed guards.

"What do you want?!"

"I've come for your son. We have a lot of work ahead of us over the next few months."

"Leon's not going anywhere with you!" Blaze angrily replies.

"Then we're going to have a problem, aren't we?" The doctor tilts his head to one side, gazing down at some of the scars on the inside of her arms.

"Luckily this time, we are under strict orders from the boss not to harm the subject. Our methods of extracting human chi this time round are far less severe so there is no need to worry…." he grins as Blaze pulls down her sleeves to hide the scars that his old machine had created.

"And if you comply without any trouble, no harm will come to the boy".

The guards swiftly rush past her then they drag Leon out of the bathroom. The two of them are then escorted to a downstairs lab on the other side of the fortress.

"Remember what I told you…" Blaze reminds Leon as the pair walk side by side down the long hallway.

The lab is well lit and organised with no sign of the same mechanical device that was once used on Axel and Blaze to extract their chi. Leon anxiously holds onto Blaze's hand as the two of them stand at the entrance of the lab with several guns pointing at their backs.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way…." Steffan speaks out, forcing the two of them to part ways.

"Ok, I'll go first then," Blaze nods.

"Sit down here" Dr Dahm instructs.

Her arms are carefully tied to the chair with her palms facing up. A headset, not so different in appearance from Zan's simulator is then lowered over her eyes. Her palms start to sweat nervously with the fear that they will inject her with something she can't see.

"Blaze, can you still hear me clearly?" Dahm asks.

"I can hear you…"

"Good. You're about to see several moving images in front of you. Each one is designed to trigger your adrenaline. Try to maintain a steady breath and project as much power as possible from your palms."

Two silver metallic panels from the ceiling are then lowered and adjusted less than 10cm above each of her hands.

"The magnetic fields around these panels will conduct your energy all the way up into that barrel where it will be secured and stored" Dr Dahm explains.

"Just get this over with!" Blaze demands, opening her palms.

Moving images, almost like old memories, start to flash in front of her eyes. It begins with some of the old cases she cracked as a cop - murderers, terrorists - all the scum of the earth that she had once played a part in locking up over the years. But as expected, no reaction at all from her chi. After about a minute, an image appears of Blaze's parents and family. This then turns into the newspaper articles that had captured shots of the aftermath of New Years Eve when her entire family were brutally murdered one year.

"There it is," Dr Dahm folds his arms feeling satisfied with himself as blue electrical chi starts to spark from her hands. It brightly strikes the metallic panels above her.

Steffan stands metres behind them next to Leon observing from a distance.

"She has more power than that," he replies.

"We're just getting started boss," the doctor grins, "give her another minute or so…"

Leon decides to step forward towards the chair, uncomfortable with the situation. "No, you need to stay back here, there's nothing you can do right now" Steffan demands, pulling him back.

Suddenly, the pulse monitor starts to beep faster as soon as an image of Jake appears on the headset. Further, images of the old apartment where Blaze lost her memory, the fire as well as the dragonfly lamp that he struck her over the head with emerge. It's as if she is living through the entire experience in her head once again. Her body violently shakes and the energy from her palms intensify whilst her heart races.

"If any harm comes to that baby, this is on you" Steffan glares with caution at the Doctor.

"It wont, I can assure you…"

The last straw is when an image of Mr X appears in front of her eyes less than a minute later. Her hands suddenly radiate a green type of energy, different to her natural chi. It is both hot and bright, illuminating fire and electricity. The energy aggressively bursts out of her palms, uncontrolled and more fierce than ever.

"Stop the machine now! That's an order!" Steffan yells.

As soon as the simulation ends, Blaze's energy outburst comes to a halt. She catches her breath, feeling weak and disoriented whilst her hands start to bleed once again. Once the headset and panels are raised up, Dr Dahm unties her wrists. She immediately throws up over the side of the chair.

"Get her some water, clean her up and take her back to the room!" Steffan clicks his fingers, calling two of his officers over.

"Mommy!" Leon worriedly calls out.

"She'll be ok. It's your turn now…" Steffan enthusiastically replies, leading him towards the same chair. Leon reluctantly complies, remembering the conversation he just had minutes ago with his mother.

He calmly sits in the same seat as the headset is lowered and adjusted.

"We know less about the boy, his fears and what gets his adrenaline fired up so this may be more difficult to administer" Dr Dahm quietly says.

The first things to appear in front of Leon's eyes are generic images of phobias like fire and drowning that seem to have little effect on his heart rate. Then the image of being situated high up in the air triggers his virtual reality.

"It seems as if the child fears heights then…."

"Yes!" Steffan remembers. "Can you program the same image to show the top of Y-Tower or any other skyscraper?"

"Yes of course," Dr Dahm types away in front of the monitor.

Leon's breathing becomes heavier until fire starts to flare from his hands.

"Can you increase his adrenaline levels any more?" Steffan queries.

"I'm not sure what else to do Sir or what other images we can display. There's always the adrenaline shot we could give him…"

"No!" Steffan snaps. "There has to be something else we can do. I know he has much more power than this stored up inside him…."

The simulation comes to a halt and the headset is slowly lifted after another minute. Leon sits in the chair, unphased for the most part staring back at his captors blankly.

"We're gonna have a problem if we don't use additional medication on the boy," Dr Dahm folds his arms.

"You can't give a 10 year old adrenaline like that. You don't know what lasting damage it will have" Steffan quietly replies.

"You're starting to sound like you care".

"I don't!" He snarls defensively. "But unlike my old partner, Mr X, I don't believe in killing or making children suffer. We'll have to find another way. If we can convince the boy the support our cause, his memory won't need to be wiped. Otherwise we risk training him again from scratch."

"Well if you can think of a better plan, make sure that I'm the first to know. I'll see you down here again tomorrow." Dr Dahm shrugs, walking away defeated.

Now that the two of them are alone, Steffan takes the opportunity to walk over to Leon in the distance to untie his wrists. Unlike a year ago when they first met, this time the boy looks up at him straight in the eye without any fear.

"You've changed Leon, you're no longer afraid of me" Steffan observes.

"Being afraid doesn't help any situation. I know now that you can't and you won't hurt me. If you wanted to, you would have already tried" he answers back.

"Careful, you're starting to sound like your father…"

"And what would you know about my father? I know who you really are, he told me."

Steffan crouches down in front of him, face to face.

"Son, I know you have more power inside of you than that! You're not fooling me…" he shakes his head, raising two flames from each of his palms.

"That's all the energy I had today, it's better than nothing" Leon casually shrugs.

"You're a smart kid and you've been taught well how to control your chi. But I want you to know, 'Operation Burn' isn't here to destroy this city. Your power will help us build a future and a better world to live in for our communities. The reason why I wont hurt you is because I need your help and so do 10 million citizens in Wood Oak City. You and I have a gift. Let's use your power to do good in this world. I am not the bad guy here". Steffan defensively shrugs as he closes his palms, cutting out the flames.

"That's what you think," Leon answers back.

"Did your father ever tell you why you were raised in the wilderness? What crimes he had committed to be confined there in the first place?"

"It doesn't matter, he's gonna kill you when he finds us…"

"That's right, I'm sure he will try. Did you also know that it was all his fault that you ended up without a mother for 9 years. He is the reason she went into that coma before you were born. Instead of saving her, he was too busy killing the man who put her in hospital when really, they could have arrested him and found your mom in time. See it's in his nature to kill, in mine and in yours due to the fire in our blood…."

There is a tense pause between them. Out of nowhere, two heavy fire orbs suddenly break out of Leon's hands, setting alight an array of glass beakers and equipment behind Steffan.

"There it is! Looks like you had more energy than you thought today," he smirks whilst the boy catches his breath. "I'm not the bad guy kid. I'm just trying to make the world a better place. I think you understand who the real enemy is now after hearing that".

Leon quickly rises out of his chair then runs off.

One of the guards steps forward from the corner of the room to intervene but Steffan places his hand in front of his chest to halt him.

"It's ok, give the boy some space and he will come back. There's no way out or off this island anyway and sooner or later that kid will come to his senses, especially after he encounters our project. Any news about Ms Y then?" He changes the subject.

"No Sir", the officer reports.

"Keep searching then, she can't hide here forever."

As soon as they leave the lab, one of the vents above them high up on the ceiling opens. A young woman cautiously climbs out, having just heard their entire conversation. First she throws her fencing sword on the ground, then Ms Y jumps down, landing quietly on her feet with ease. After exiting the lab she rushes off into the opposite direction, gathering up any medical equipment she can find on the way that she places inside her backpack.

By now, the sun is setting and darkness is starting to appear on the island. As Ms Y reaches the West Wing of the fortress towards the dusk, she stabs one of the guards from behind then drags his body into one of the laundry rooms. Further down the corridor, a second security guard spots her fast approaching him. Ms Y wastes no time when slices his throat with one flick of her sword. "Remember whose home you are standing here guarding!... Traitor!" She snarls with hate as the guard gags then collapses with blood pouring from his throat.

She sighs with annoyance when she enters another large room in order to continue her escape. For almost the past 24 hours she has kept herself hidden within the walls of the fortress after learning that Steffan betrayed her brother. This room is different from the others, however. It is one of significance to her and is somewhere she spent a great deal of time in over the past 10 years. In the centre is a large throne-like chair with her family emblem displayed on it. Next to the throne stand two mediaeval statues and a large rectangular red and gold rug in the middle of the room. Several flags with her family emblem also hang down from the ceiling.

Ms Y takes a moment, running her white gloved hand along the arm of her throne. She then sits back in her chair, enjoying that familiar feeling of power which is what this seat represents. "I will kill every single one of your traitors!" She makes a pledge, glancing up towards the ceiling where she stares at a painted image of her father, Mr X holding his gun.

Suddenly, she is distracted away from her thoughts when the door starts to slide open. Ms Y tightens her grip on the handle of her sword with anticipation.

"Well? Are you just gonna stand there staring or are you gonna fight me?" She smirks then cocks her head to one side with amusement as soon as Leon enters the room.